Local tech education platform Banneky has formed a new collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures and Microsoft—called “Find Your Seat”—to educate and create diversity in STEM careers for the next generation in an entertaining way. 

The Dallas-based company is hyper-focused on middle and high school students who love art, sports, and gaming. It aims to close the divide between parents and children by offering a space that allows brilliant kids to pursue passions in a productive way, while leading them to careers they can enjoy and parents can support.  

Banneky CEO and Founder Erica Molett is a mother of two teenage boys interested in online activities like gaming and esports. As a parent and Black entrepreneur, Molett wants to support her kids’ interests although, like most parents, those interests were foreign to her. Through the development of Banneky, Molett found a way for parents’ wishes of building careers out of their childhood interests a reality.

“I really believe that if we as parents, educators, and support networks for this generation of young people decide to lean into their passion and learn more about them, we could create the first generation that follows their childhood passions to amazing careers that they will love,” Molett says.

The platform is meant to educate, elevate, and entertain while giving students the necessary means to build a life and career out of their passions. From a gamer and electrical engineer to sneaker lover and shoe designer, the possibilities are endless. 

Banneky.com offers a variety of features to give kids the means to learn, create, and innovate. Some of these include STEAM lessons taught in fun and engaging ways, masterclasses and career exploration with professionals from companies and popular media, and kid-produced podcasts focused on different interests.

Find Your Seat 

And, the new platform has earned the support of Microsoft and Warner Bros. through a recent partnership. On June 26, the orgs will host a 6-hour livestream event for students called “FIND YOUR SEAT: In Tech, Gaming, and Entertainment” to introduce students to an array of coding tools and STEM concepts. It will all be related to the upcoming “Space Jam” film, in theaters and on HBO Max July 16.

[Image: Banneky]

Find Your Seat brings opportunities to have conversations with STEM professionals— Microsoft developers, game producers, content creators, and well-known gamers like Aerial Powers, FaZe Blaze, FaZe Swagg, and Sceptic—via blended panels, live coding, and fun family themes.

Students will also be introduced to Microsoft coding tools and a new coding curriculum through Microsoft Learn, a free, online training platform that provides interactive learning for Microsoft products that will be available to the public on June 28.  

Overall, the intent is to get students interested in the digital future. Attendees will participate in coding, gaming, and discussions to shine a light on various careers within tech, gaming, and content creation.  

Banneky Squad students will act as hosts, leading learners through the high-energy livestream, raffling prizes for participation and engagement, connecting with viewers through chat, and asking the questions students want to know about their careers.

Find Your Seat is part of Molett’s initiative to diversify the tech, gaming, esports, and STEM industries while providing access to these tools to youth in marginalized communities. She says she wants “kids of all races, genders, physical and cognitive abilities to feel represented in a space that celebrates their brilliance.”

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